Sampling device



July 23, 1963 D. J. BOURNE ETAL 3,

SAMPLING DEVICE Filed D60. 22, 1960 s j z {W ATTOR/Vfi J 3,098,390Patented July 23, 1963 3,098,390 SAMPLING DEVICE Douglas J. Bourne andWilliam H. Park, Carlsbad, N. Mex, assiguors to Duval Sulphur and PotashCompany, Houston, Tex., as corporation of Texas Filed Dec. 22,. 1960,Ser. No. 77,750 8 Claims. (Cl. 73-424) This invention rel-ates to asampling device, and more particularly to a device for obtaining one ormore relatively small, yet completely representative, samples from arelatively large amount of material whose particle size and/ or chemicalanalysis varies, such as crushed cores.

In many conventional processes it is necessary to accurately samplecrushed material for chemical and/or physical analysis. Such analysesare vital for process control and efficient operation. It is readilyapparent that if the material to be sampled be of uniform chemicalanalysis and particle size, then an accurate sample may be taken in anycrude manner. However, this situation is rarely the case. Under morenormal conditions either or both of particle size and chemical analysisvaries, and accurate sampling becomes very difficult. One prime reasonfor this difiicul-ty is that the handling and storing of materials witha relatively wide range of particle size causes segregation ofparticles. A typical example of such segregation can be seen in anystorage pile formed by material discharging from a chute or conveyorwherein the coarser particles will tend to concentrate in the peripheryof the pile as the fine particles concentrate in the core of the pile.Due to segregation and other causes, it has been necessary tolaboriously and tediously handquarter and hand-rifile such material inorder to obtain an accurate representative sample.

In the past it has been proposed to discharge material from a hopperonto a rotating cone which slings the ma terial by centrifugal forcefrom the cone into circumferentially spaced sample cutters. Experiencehas shown that a truly representative sample will not result from thisdevice, as material on a given side of the hopper will tend to remain onthe given side of the hopper and to maintain this orientation down tothe centrifugal slinger. As material striking the slinger at aparticular orientation will generally be discharged at a position afixed number of degrees away, it will be seen that a sample cutter mayreceive samples which tend to come predominantly from one side only ofthe hopper.

It is an object of this invention to provide a mechanical device whichwill obtain an accurate, representative, relatively small sample from arelatively large amount of material.

It is another object of the invention to provide a means of rapidlyprocuring accurate samples.

Another object is to provide a mechanical means of obtaining severalsamples simultaneously which may be of different desired size.

Another object is to provide a means of sampling wherein accuracy equalsthat obtainable trom tediously and carefully hand-sampling, but lacksthe inherent human error found when such sampling is done on a routinebasis.

Another object is to provide a sampling device of the type in whichmaterial from a hopper falls onto a rotating slinger disc from whence itis discharged by centrifugal action in which the orientation of thematerial leaving the hopper is changed in successive increments toinsure that the sample cut is a representative sample from the hopper.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparentfrom the drawing, the specification and the claims.

In the drawing wherein an illustrative embodiment of this invention isshown, and wherein like reference numerals indicate like parts:

FIGURE 1 is a view in elevation with parts broken away of a samplingdevice constructed in accordance with this invention;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged perspective view of the upper end of a samplecutter "and a section of the slinger disc; and,

FIGURE 3 is a view along the lines 3-3 of FIGURE 1 in the direction ofthe arrows.

Suitably supported at the upper end of a frame, which includes columns10 and 11, a hopper 12 for receiving the material to be sampled isprovided. Preferably, the hopper 12 is of the type having a conicallower section 13 terminating in a relatively small outlet opening 14.The angle of the sloping sides of the conical portion 13 exceeds theangle of repose of the material to be sampled.

Distributor means for successively changing the orientation of materialdischarged (from opening 12 is indicated generally at 15. Thedistributor in its preferred form is provided by a vertically extendingtubular member or pipe 16 having an internal diameter less than thediameter of opening 14 so that the distributor will remain full untilall of the material within hopper 12 has been discharged.

To direct material from the hopper to the tube 16 and to provide forcontrol of flow of material from the hopper opening, the distributor isprovided at the upper end of tubular member 16 with tan upwardly andoutwardly flaring funnel 17. The tunnel may be an integral part of thetubular member 16, or it may be secured thereto.

.By extending the upper end of the funnel slightly above the outlet 14of the hopper, the material in funnel 17 will block the hopper outletand in this manner control flow from the hopper to the distributor.

The distributor is mounted for rotation about a vertical axis,preferably coaxial with the hopper outlet 14 as by bearings 18 and 19.

Positioned to receive material from the distributor is a slinger disc21. Preferably the slinger disc has an upwardly extending conical centersection 22 with its apex positioned on the central axis of the tubularmember 16. The slinger disc is mounted on a shaft 23 which isjournal'led in bushings 24 and 25, preferably for rotation about thecentral axis of tubular member 16.

Surrounding the slinger disc 21 is a rejection cone 26 whose sides havea slope sufficient to freely drain the rejected material which passesout the discharge opening 27' to the reject pile 28.

As will be noted, the bearings 24 and 25 may be supported on a suitablebracket 29 within the reject cone 26 (see FIG. 3).

The distributor bearings 18 and 19 may be supported in any desiredmanner, as upon the reject cone in the manner illustrated. Preferably astandard '31 is supported from some portion of the sampling device, suchas the reject cone 26, and has slots (not shown) extending verticallytherein. The bearings 18 and 19' are carried by a bracket 32 whichdepends from a bolt 33. The bolt 33 extends through a nut 34 which isrotatably mounted in a horizontally extending portion 31a of standard31. Thus by rotation of'nut 34, bolt 33 is caused to move vertically andmove the distributor toward or away from slinger disc 21. As the apex ofthe conical section 22 of the slinger disc lies immediately below thedistributor tube 16, the relative position of these two parts will govcmthe size of the annular opening between the conical section 22 and thelower end of tube 16. Adjustment of this opening will vary thethrough-put through the sampler.

The bracket 32 has a right angle section 33 which lies against thestandard 31. Suitable bolts and wing nuts 34 and 35 are provided tosecurely fix the bracket relative to the standard after it has beenadjusted by positioning nut 34.

In accordance with this invention, means are provided for rotating disc21 and distributor 15 at different speeds. This may include a pulley 36secured to the tubular member 16 and a pulley 37 of a different sizesecured to shaft 23 on which disc 21 is mounted. The two pulleys 36 and37 are driven from a common shaft 38 by belts 39 and 40 which are drivenby pulleys 4-1 and 42, respectively. The common shaft 38 may be rotatedby any suitable source such as the motor 43 which is shown to drive theshaft through a pulley system indicated generally at 44.

In order to collect samples of the material passing through the sampler,a sample cutter is provided as indicated at '45. As many sample cuttersas desired may be employed. Preferably the sample cutter includes a tube46 welded or otherwise secured in a position extending through the wallof reject cone 26. A look nut 47 is provided in tubular member 46 andlocks the vertically extending tube 48 of the sample cutter in position.At its lower end the tube 48 connects with a sample-receiving jar 49. Atits upper end the tube 48 is positioned to receive material from theslinger disc 21. Preferably the upper end of the tube 48 is notched asat 50 and the notch extends to a position just below the disc 21. Thisnotch may cut away a semi-circular section of the tube as best shown inFIGURE 2. Immediately below the notched section of the tube it ispreferred that the tube 48 be flared outwardly as at 51 under thenotched-out portion to underlie the slinger disc 21, as best shown inFIGURE 2. It will be appreciated that by selecting the orientation ofthe tube 48 relative to the slinger disc 21, a larger or smaller samplecan be taken by each sample cutter.

In operation, the material to be sampled is fed into hopper 12. This maybe a representative sample of a large amount of material. To illustratehow the sampler mixes the material to obtain a representative sample, itwill be assumed that in looking down on hopper 12 large particles willbe found on the north side and small particles will be found on thesouth side. As these particles move down through hopper 12, they willremain on their respective sides.

The distributor tube and funnel 17 will immediately fill up and thematerial in funnel 17 will act as its own seal to control flow ofmaterial from the hopper to the distributor.

For purposes of illustration, it will be assumed that the distributor isnot rotating. Thus, the large particles on the north side of the hopperwill tend to pass through the distributor tube on the north side of thetube. The small particles will, in like manner, tend to pass through thesouth side of the distributor tube. With any given rotative speed ofslinger disc 21 the large particles will be discharged from thedistributor disc after a given are of rotation of the slinger disc fromthe north position. If we assume this to be 90, then these particleswill be discharged on the east side of the hopper. In like manner, thesmall particles falling on the south side of the slinger disc will tendto be discharged on the west side of the slinger disc if we assume thatthey also will be discharged with 90 of rotation of the slinger disc. Itwill thus be seen that with the distributor stationary or removed fromthe system, a sample cutter on the east side of the slinger disc willtend to receive one fraction from the hopper, while a sample on the westside of the slinger disc will tend to receive another fraction from thehopper.

If we consider the distributor to begin rotating, it will be apparentthat particles which are on the north side of the hopper and distributorwill be deposited in successive increments about the slinger disc in thedirection of rotation of the distributor. Thus, instead of alwaystending to fall on the slinger disc on the north side, the particlesfrom the north side of the hopper will be deposited on the slinger discthrough 360", and an equal amount of these particles will tend to bethrown off of the slinger disc all the way around the slinger disc. Thisinsures that an equal distribution of particles from the hopper isaccomplished by the sampling device regardless of which side of thehopper the particles may originate in.

From the above discussion it is apparent that the slinger disc 21 mustrotate relative to the sample cutters 45 to accomplish its function.Also, the distributor must rotate relative to the slinger disc 21 sothat it will likewise accomplish its function of continuously changingthe orientation of material passing from the hopper to the slinger disc.

Thus, the disc and distributor must rotate relative to each other andrelative to the sample cutters. Where a hopper is employed the disc anddistributor will also rotate relative to the hopper. The distributor andslinger disc may rotate in the same direction at different speeds, orthey may rotate in opposite directions.

As the particles leave the slinger disc due to gravity and centrifugalforce, they are in part out by the sample cutter 45 and collected in jar49. The remainder of the material is conveyed through the reject cone tothe reject pile.

Extensive tests of the sampling device shown in the drawing hasdemonstrated that the samples taken in accordance with this inventionare as representative as any which may be obtained by very carefulhand-sampling.

From a consideration of the drawing it Will be apparent that the carefulsampling could be obtained by eliminating the hopper and hand-feedingthe distributor. Of course, the funnel 17 could be made large enough toserve as a hopper, if desired, but this would increase the cost of thestructure and is not desirable.

It will be apparent from the above that in order to obtain true samplesof material it is only necessary to rotate the slinger disc anddistributor relative to each other and relative to the sample cutter.

The foregoing disclosure and description of the invention isillustrative and explanatory thereof and various changes in the size,shape and materials, as well as in the details of the illustratedconstruction, may be made within the scope of the appended claimswithout departing from the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A sampling device comprising, a hopper having a discharge opening, adistributor positioned below and receiving material from the hopperdischarge opening, said distributor having a discharge opening in itslower end, means mounting said distributor for rotation about a verticalaxis, a slinger disc positioned below and receiving material from saiddistributor discharge opening, means mounting said slinger disc forrotation about a vertical axis, means for rotating said distributor andslinger disc relative to the hopper and relative to each other, and asample cutter positioned adjacent the slinger disc and receivingmaterial therefrom.

2. A sample device comprising, a hopper having a dis charge opening, adistributor having a vertically extending tubular bore therethrough ofless diameter than the hopper outlet, said tubular bore positioned belowand receiving material from the hopper outlet, a funnel on the upper endof the tubular opening extending above and surrounding the hopperoutlet, means mounting said distributor for rotation about a verticalaxis, a slinger disc positioned below and receiving material from saidtubular bore, means for mounting said slinger disc for rotation about avertical axis, means for rotating said distributor and slinger discrelative to the hopper and relative to each other, and a sample cutterpositioned adjacent the slinger disc and receiving material therefrom.

3. A sampling device comprising, a hopper having a discharge opening, adistributor positioned below and receiving material from the hopperdischarge opening, said distributor having a discharge opening in itslower end, means mounting said distributor for rotation about a verticalaxis, a conioally-shaped slinger disc positioned with the apex of thecone below and on the central axis of said distributor dischargeopening, means for mounting said slinger disc for rotation about saidcentral axis, means for rotating said distributor and slinger discrelative to the hopper and relative to each other, and a sample cutterpositioned adjacent the slinger disc and receiving material therefrom.

4. A sampling device comprising, a hopper having a discharge opening, adistributor having a vertically extending tubular bore therethrough oflesser diameter than the hopper outlet, said tubular bore positionedbelow and receiving material from the hopper outlet, a funnel on theupper end of the tubular opening surrounding and extending above thehopper outlet, means mounting said distributor for rotation about avertical axis, a conically-shaped slinger disc having the apex of thecone positioned on the central axis of the tubular bore, means formounting said slinger disc for rotation about the central axis of saidtubular bore, means for rotating said distributor and slinger discrelative to the hopper and relative to each other, and a sample cutterpositioned adjacent the slinger disc and receiving material tlherefirom.

5. The sampling device of claim 4 wherein the conically-shaped disc andthe distributor are adjustable toward and away from each other tocontrol through-put through the sampling device.

6. The sampling device of claim 4 wherein the sample cutter has avertically extending tubular portion with a slot cut in the upper end ofsaid tubular portion, said tubular portion extending above the outerperiphery of said slinger disc, and means for adjusting the orientationof the tubular portion.

7. A sampling device comprising, a distributor for receiving material tobe sampled, said distributor having an outlet in its lower end, acomically-shaped slinger disc positioned below said distributor with theapex of the cone positioned on the central axis of the distributoroutlet, means for mounting said slinger disc for rotation about thecentral axis of said distributor outlet, a sample cutter fixedlypositioned adjacent the slinger disc and receiving material therefrom,and means for rotating said distributor and slinger disc relative to thesample cutter and relative to each other.

8. A sampling device comprising, a distributor having a verticallyextending tubular bore therethrough, a funnel on the upper end of thetubular bore, means mounting said distributor for rotation about thecentral axis of said tubular bore, a conically-shaped slinger discpositioned below said distributor with the apex of the cone positioned.on the central axis of the tubular bore, means for mounting saidslinger disc for rotation about the central axis of said tubular bore, asample cutter fixedly positioned adjacent the slinger disc and receivingmatenial therefrom, and means for rotating said distributor and slingerdisc relative to the sample cutter and relative to each other.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,076,188 Thorsten Apr. 6, 1937 2,541,519 Jones Feb. 13, 1951 FOREIGNPATENTS 1,034,886 Germany July 24, 1 958

1. A SAMPLING DEVICE COMPRISING, A HOPPER HAVING A DISCHARGE OPENING, ADISTRIBUTOR POSITIONED BELOW AND RECEIVING MATERIAL FROM THE HOPPERDISCHARGE OPENING, SAID DISTRIBUTOR HAVING A DISCHARGE OPENING IN ITSLOWER END, MEANS MOUNTING SAID DISTRIBUTOR FOR ROTATION ABOUT A VERTICALAXIS, A SLINGER DISC POSITIONED BELOW AND RECEIVING MATERIAL FROM SAIDDISTRIBUTOR DISCHARGE OPENING, MEANS MOUNTING SAID SLINGER DISC FORROTATION ABOUT A VERTICAL AXIS, MEANS FOR ROTATING SAID DISTRIBUTOR ANDSLINGER DISC RELATIVE TO THE HOPPER AND RELATIVE TO EACH OTHER, AND ASAMPLE CUTTER POSITIONED ADJACENT THE SLINGER DISC AND RECEIVINGMATERIAL THEREFROM.